Stopping a dry food diet

[heatherwillard0614]

Hello all.
Gabby is around 2 years old.
Next month (August 20th) will be a year that 《she adopted me》 lol
She has been free fed dry kibble her whole life..
I have tried withholding her dry kibble all day and have tried multiple wet foods and she just will not touch it..
When we first brought her home we had went through 4 different kinds of dry kibble before she finally liked the one she is currently eating.. she was literally starving herself. During this time we had given her chicken and eggs to keep her fed until we found any kind of actual cat food she would eat. Which I know it isn't a complete nutritional meal but it was what worked at the time...
I want to transition her from dry to wet but I don't want her starving herself again
Also she doesn't eat much in a day less than a half cup in a little over 24 hours..
Does anyone have any advice with a picky eater who only nibbles throughout the day here and there. She never sits down to actually eat. It's always just a very little bit
Her water intake is great she loves cold water (that's how I get her to drink more if it is room temp she doesn't drink as much.)
I give her as much cold water as she wants because she doesn't eat wet Food and I know cats get a majority of their hydration from wet food.
Any tips and tricks are much appreciated.
Thank you for any and all advice.

 

[iPappy]

Hi!
When you tried to transition and fed her chicken and eggs, did she eat this without any problems?
This might help you get started.

 

[heatherwillard0614]

Yes she ate it without any tummy upset, but still only nibbled here and there... I would have refrigerate most of the egg or most of the chicken depending on what I was feeding her at that exact moment..
Like she literally only takes a few bites.
This behavior has always concerned me so I have taken her to the vet to have her teeth checked out and her teeth and gums are absolutely fine.
At rhat check up nothing was out of the ordinary at all.
I might add she is a very finicky/picky prissy little thing when it comes to food..

Might I add I love jackson galaxy the cay daddy!!!

 

[maggie101]

I have a picky eater. Now it's mostly weruva,a food that most cats find hard to resist since it's shredded chicken. Found at natural food stores

 

[heatherwillard0614]

I have a picky eater. Now it's mostly weruva,a food that most cats find hard to resist since it's shredded chicken. Found at natural food stores

Can you be more specific by what you mean by natural food stores??? We literally only have walmart, foodlion, Martin's. weis, aldis, and sharp shopper

 

[heatherwillard0614]

Never-ending I looked it up walmart has it pet smart and chewy carries it as well

 

[maggie101]

I use natural paws or chewy

 

[maggie101]

I have never heard of the stores you mentioned except walmart

 

[heatherwillard0614]

I use natural paws or chewy

I will get some of that brand and try to slowly transition her.. but first I gotta figure out how I can get her on a meal fed schedule.. that I guess is the part I'm really struggling with... because she literally just snacks throughout the day

 

[heatherwillard0614]

I have never heard of the stores you mentioned except walmart

Foodlion and Martin's and weis are like a walmart but only the grocery part.
Aldi and sharp shopper are cheap stores for things about to go out of date they get items from places like walmart


I looked up natural pawz thinking it was an online store like chewy and it is an actual store?? I've never heard of that one

 

[maggie101]

I just checked.walmart does have it. I have been to Walmart 1 time

 

[heatherwillard0614]

That is like our main store here.. lol yea I found it there pet smart and chewy.

Now what happens if I start giving her meals throughout the day but she still only picks at the food.. she will be eating way less than if she munches all day.. that is what I'm worried about because I've tried before.
She still would only eat a few for like a little snack then next meal time the same thing.. she never got up to the point of eating an actual serving for a meal.. then she didn't even get a quarter of a cup in a 24 hour period.. I'm worried about her missing nutrition and getting sick..
I am going to discuss some options with the vet on the 20th when I take her.. see what they recommend as well

 

[maggie101]

Sometimes my cat wants something different so I also use toppers like pure bites freeze dried treats. If a store has small cans,buy a variety and see what cshe likes. Weruva cats in the kitchen is popular especially chicken Frick a zee

 

[maggie101]

Just beware. Some of their food,like chicken Frick a zee does not have many cals, 110, so my 9 pd cat eats 1 1/2 plus half 3 oz can of daves healthy&nutritious chicken duck in gravy. Weruva double dip 1 can plus 1/2can of daves

 

[heatherwillard0614]

Thank you. I have tried different toppers as well on wet food I have tried so many different types of wet food too and she literally wouldn't eat not even 1 little lick..
This was before during and after finding the dry kibble that she actually likes..
Different consistsncies different flavors most expensive to cheap..
She won't even touch any kind of treat nor freeze dried treats either... I have also tried heating up the wet food.. idk what else to do with her lol but I am determined to get her eating a way better diet than dry kibble..
I appreciate the advice I really do.

 

[heatherwillard0614]

I do want to add she had a really horrible life before we got her idk if that has something to do with her eating habits...
Also if she can see the bottom of her bowl she won't touch the food... it is like she thinks it Is empty or she thinks she has to save it maybe idk what she thinks...

 

[Babypaws]

Hi!
When you tried to transition and fed her chicken and eggs, did she eat this without any problems?
This might help you get started.

This was a great video….thanks for posting

 

[Alldara]

I found some good tips here: Transitioning Dry Food Addicts

i had to go slow with Nobel. He would go on hunger strikes if no dry food.

i still give a couple tablespoons of dry food per day for our cats. Calcifer and Ghost get dental food and Magnus (who won't chew the dental food) gets some Royal Canin kitten food (despite being 3 as he's so hyper a full wet diet leaves him loosing weight).

 

[Alldara]

Some cats have an aversion to wet food because of how quickly it can go bad. They need to be shown the wet food a couple of times. I even had to encourage one cat to try it by booping a small but on the mouth, then, put it away for the next day. (So they can know they didn't die from eating it )

It can take 3 times of trying it for a cat to eat it. Calcifer was born inside to an amazing foster home, but retained this behaviour from his stray mum. It helps if he watches another cat eat it and not get sick.

 

[daftcat75]

Betty is pretty picky and was most likely a kibble addict before I adopted her last January. But she liked Rawz rabbit and Mouser in the rabbit for about a week last year. That was huge for her. For much of her first year with me (years before me unknown), I've been feeding her Hills I/D (chicken in gravy with rice and veggies) and Hills A/D which I call her "cake frosting." She will literally eat anything including her meds if I coat it in A/D first. I later came to learn that she had been eating through dental pain for most of that first year. Her diet has been more or less fixed for the last year as we've been working her hairballs (suspected IBD) and teeth. But next month, she will hopefully come off of pred, and I would love to revisit her diet again. She showed some interest in one or two commercial raw brands, and a homemade batch I made for her when I was desperate to get her to eat.

Incredible Pets sells by the can. I recommend grabbing a can each of a few flavors of Mouser. Betty seemed to like Mouser more than Rawz. I would also consider the Tiki Cat After Dark line.
Search: 10 results found for "mouser" - Incredible Pets

And closer to home, Fancy Feast Classic Pates are excellent foods that most cats (even Betty) likes. I may even consider adding some FF Classics back into Betty's diet after her inde-pred-nence day.

If Gabby is otherwise healthy and doesn't seem to have any food sensitivities, I would also try a number of the big brands you find in grocery stores (vs. pet stores.) Popular brands tend to be popular with cats. They wouldn't be on the shelf otherwise.

As to how to do the transition, I found that Betty would often eat the wet food if she had just a handful of kibble on the plate--four or five pieces. It was just enough to get her mouth watering and her stomach churning and she realized she was still hungry enough to eat some of the wet food on the plate too. The other thing I did when I had to take away the dry altogether and switch her to the GI food (I/D) was to mix it with the A/D (her cake frosting.) Now you probably don't want to get her started on I/D if you can help it. It's expensive and it's making Betty pudgy. But you might ask your vet about getting a can of A/D to try as a mixer or cake frosting to bump up the appeal of something Gabby is more than "meh" about. If she likes those tube treats, you could try those too in place of the A/D. When my last cat, Krista, was having eating issues in her later years, I would crumble freeze dried raw over her wet or dried fish flakes. In other words, learn your cat's "cake frosting" and feel free to bribe her into eating more wet.

It would also be helpful to transition her to scheduled feeding. Split up her dry portion into four or more meals, reduce a little for the wet you are going to add, and get her used to eating on a schedule. She'll probably protest. But if she's hungry, she can eat the wet food.